With $3.3 trillion in GDP, Germany is Europe's biggest economy, and Merkel's reforms are sparking a rebound, with unemployment falling (although consumer confidence just hit a five-year low). She pushed through a later retirement age, put more women in senior government posts, and raised payments to new parents. Bulldozes through controversy: hosted the Dalai Lama, chastised Mugabe, and wants to make the euro a bigger player in global financial markets as the dollar wanes. Also trying to make Germany more eco-friendly with steep greenhouse-gas cuts. Europeans voted her their most influential politician. — Tatiana Serafin

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